Thursday, December 15, 2011

SLOW - AGAINST THE GLASS

Zulu Records, 1985

Vancouver, British Columbia's Slow; rumoured to be an instigating factor in what became "grunge", notorious for a fair bit of havoc during Expo '86, and comprised of members Thomas Anselmi, Christian Thorvaldson, Stephen Hamm,and Terry Russell who collectively are responsible for giving us this great little record, regarded by Chart magazine as the 17th Best Canadian Album of All Time, whatever that means.

From their wikipedia entry:

"Slow are most famous for a controversial incident which both marred the Expo '86 festivities and effectively ended the band's career, when the band were invited to play at the event's Festival of Independent Recording Artists. According to Anselmi, the band's original idea was to simply appear on stage naked, run through the crowd to a boat on False Creek and then simply disappear without playing a note; however, the band ultimately chose to put on a more typical performance.Typical, that is, for Slow – the show included Anselmi pitching several two-by-fours into the audience, and both Anselmi and Hamm followed through on the original idea to strip naked.Expo officials cut the power to the pavilion, ending the band's set.

The band were detained by the Vancouver police, who considered charging them with indecent exposure. Expo officials cancelled the evening's concert, citing security concerns.

Some of the fans in attendance got onstage and refused to leave the venue, others began to riot, and yet another group stormed BCTV's onsite studios, where they protested the concert's cancellation so loudly and persistently that the station had to pull its 11:00 pm newscast.

The band subsequently embarked on a cross-Canada tour, although the negative publicity they received as a result of the riot led them to split up by the time they returned to Vancouver. Anselmi and Thorvaldson formed the band Copyright while Hamm and Russell launched Tankhog."

Now then; also, Michael Barclay, Ian Jack and Jason Schneider's book "Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995", borrows it's title from what was Slow's one big hit. Get the record, and love it.